Best sized .45 ACP self-defese for a carbine

I've done some research and I see that the 230gr does not gain a significant amount of velocity out of a 16" barrel over your standard 5" handgun barrel. I found an article that demonstrated where the lighter loads, the 165 gr specifically, gained 200ft/sec out the barrel but fragmented on impact with the ballistics gel and penetrated just over 5". Is 230gr the way to go? Right now, I have PDX1 230gr bonded hollow point but just checking into other loads. Here is the article:

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Three things are important in a gun fight.
1st - Being able to hit what you are aiming at.
2nd - Penetration. You have to hit a vital organ or a large artery or a major nerve center.
3rd - Size of the hole.

Since we can't carry a carbine for self defense I will assume that you are thinking Home Defense.
Get a shot gun. Best home defense weapon made for normal folks.
If you must have a 45 for home defense I would hope that the carbine is a back up to a hand gun... loaded with good name brand hollow points. Sort of like the PDX1's.
In the carbine I would consider FMJ rounds to make sure you have a lot of penetration since the hand gun was not enough.
A 45 hole is sufficient already and the FMJ will give you the penetration.
The rest would be up to you to hit the bad guy.

Three things are important in a gun fight.
1st - Being able to hit what you are aiming at.
2nd - Penetration. You have to hit a vital organ or a large artery or a major nerve center.
3rd - Size of the hole.

Since we can't carry a carbine for self defense I will assume that you are thinking Home Defense.
Get a shot gun. Best home defense weapon made for normal folks.
If you must have a 45 for home defense I would hope that the carbine is a back up to a hand gun... loaded with good name brand hollow points. Sort of like the PDX1's.
In the carbine I would consider FMJ rounds to make sure you have a lot of penetration since the hand gun was not enough.
A 45 hole is sufficient already and the FMJ will give you the penetration.
The rest would be up to you to hit the bad guy.

Lots of information that I didn't ask for but thanks and I'm not trying to be mean. I already have a shot gun for home defense as well as many handguns, any can be used for home defense. My G17 with tactical light sits nearby, as does my shot gun. I would like to use this carbine as hd as well. I ask as the dynamics of a pistol carbine change a bit but I don't think they do as much for the 45 ACP.

Three things are important in a gun fight.
1st - Being able to hit what you are aiming at.
2nd - Penetration. You have to hit a vital organ or a large artery or a major nerve center.
3rd - Size of the hole.

Since we can't carry a carbine for self defense I will assume that you are thinking Home Defense.
Get a shot gun. Best home defense weapon made for normal folks.
If you must have a 45 for home defense I would hope that the carbine is a back up to a hand gun... loaded with good name brand hollow points. Sort of like the PDX1's.
In the carbine I would consider FMJ rounds to make sure you have a lot of penetration since the hand gun was not enough.
A 45 hole is sufficient already and the FMJ will give you the penetration.
The rest would be up to you to hit the bad guy.

I can carry a carbine as well as any law abiding Texan, why can't YOU?

If you haven't already, you may want to look at the website Ballistics by the Inch. It may help you see the relationship between barrel length increase and bullet velocity increases. You can also pull up the graphs that show energy vs. barrel length.

Check your owners manual.
Does it recommend against +P for a blowback .45 ?

Some don't recommend +P because it will open the action too soon.

Yeah, it's rated for it. The ballistics by the inch is a good website for sure. The 230gr 45 auto out of 16" barrel doesn't gain much velocity over your standard 5" barrel. Lighter bullets gain about 200ft/s, at least from the sight information.

Yeah, it's rated for it. The ballistics by the inch is a good website for sure. The 230gr 45 auto out of 16" barrel doesn't gain much velocity over your standard 5" barrel. Lighter bullets gain about 200ft/s, at least from the sight information.

I'd recommend looking at several sources with comparable tests & assumptions and then consider the results and their projections. We gun people can be very bias and use loads, conditions, type of rifling, measuring......you name it to come up with very different results.

Logically speaking and oversimplifying a bit, the load with the a greater powder charge and slower burning powders will benefit the most from the longer barrel. A moly coated 230gr 45 Super is about as effective as you can make a 16" and still keep the 45 acp dimension case. You start going too fast with a light soft wide meplate 45 and it quickly turns to a varmit round.

Yeah, it's rated for it. The ballistics by the inch is a good website for sure. The 230gr 45 auto out of 16" barrel doesn't gain much velocity over your standard 5" barrel. Lighter bullets gain about 200ft/s, at least from the sight information.

I wasn't talking velocity, but chamber pressure.

But, if it is rated go ahead.
I was always patial to 200gr LSWC for target loads, and the old-style Speer 200gr JHC (flying ashtray) for defense

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